1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to golf ball washing devices and more specifically to a device for prewashing and sorting golf balls gathered from a driving range environment for delivery of round balls suitable for reuse to a conventional ball washer.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Golf ball washers generally are well known in the prior art, and Applicant's prior U.S. Pat. No. 4,805,251 is an example of a conventional ball washer of the type suitable for accepting balls delivered to it by a device constructed in accordance with the present invention.
In a typical golf ball driving range environment broken golf balls and small stones or other foreign objects can be picked-up by the equipment used to retrieve golf balls after they have been used by a customer at a typical driving range. While golf balls washers are currently available for washing golf balls prior to reuse, the broken balls and small stones gathered by the golf ball pickup devices can create problems in a conventional ball washer. Further, it is a waste of energy and time to handle such non-round objects in a conventional ball washer.
There is a need therefore to provide a device for presorting and prewashing golf balls prior to delivery of only round golf balls to a conventional ball washer.